Ever since last weekend’s tragic shooting in Colorado Springs, the 911 operator who received the first report of a man with a gun has been the focus of criticism.
Some have blamed her for failing to dispatch police immediately after receiving the report that a man was carrying a long gun on a city street.
The problem isn’t with the call taker, however. The problem is the law.
In Colorado, open carry is legal, as the call taker explained to the woman who reported the man with the long gun and, a few minutes later, with a handgun, too.
Minutes later that man shot three innocent people and was eventually killed by police.
The call taker, however, did everything by the book, as evidenced by recordings released later. She questioned the caller for five minutes, showed genuine concern for the fact the man was displaying a gun, and asked if anyone was in imminent danger.
The caller said no. She ranked the call as priority 2, meaning it was potentially dangerous but there was no imminent threat to life.
That was probably appropriate, considering the law.
Common sense, however, would suggest that a man openly brandishing guns around a city street should be considered dangerous. Normal people don’t do that in an urban environment.
The Colorado Springs City Council thought so in 2003, when it banned the open carrying of guns in city buildings after a man began showing up at City Hall with a shotgun.
Denver has the best policy for a big city — banning the open carrying of all firearms.
The city has successfully defeated several legal challenges to its ordinance — including asserting its autonomy on the issue in the face of a state law forbidding the city from imposing such a ban.
Colorado Springs, which also is a home rule city, could and should do the same.
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